Skate park, basketball court, Oxford’s thorn

Tuesday

Jul 29, 2008 at 6:00 AM

The skate park and basketball court is a thorn in the sides of a lot of residents in town.

A recent meeting on this subject was attended by many well-behaved, polite and respectful young people (skateboarders). The basketball courts are in place and it was nice see the young people enjoying them. The big thorn is the skate park not yet built. The kids who attended the meeting deserve a lot of credit for standing up for what they believe in.

I wonder where their parents were? They left with many wounds, feeling unwanted, unimportant, in the way of our peace and quiet.

Thirty years ago, I and two mothers, fought hard to get activities here because there were none. We finally got Sunday afternoon dances. Parents chaperoned, held contests, danced with the young people and built wonderful lasting relationships with them. They saw they were important enough for us to take time for them. A skate park was wanted then, but built many years after I moved from town. Returning to live here four years ago, I found the town has stepped backward in time. Maybe we should just keep the skateboarders and bikers in their backyards out of the way.

As adults, many may move to another town. They will not want to raise their children here where they were not welcomed. They will not stay to serve this town on the school board, be a selectman, police officer, teacher or businessman, etc. How sad.

JANET POSTERRO

Oxford

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